Nicole Reyes, who was convicted for the voluntary manslaughter of her husband, is now at home in Cardiff after her family paid the £55,000 bail fee.

Nicole Reyes on the day she was released from prison in the Dominican Republic

This photo shows the shocking toll life behind bars has taken on Welsh mother-of-two Nicole Reyes.

After spending almost two years in jail in the Dominican Republic for killing her husband, the Cardiff mum was back home with her family yesterday after they raised the £55,000 bail money needed for her release.

Nicole Reyes, 38, was given a 12-year sentence in February for the death of her husband Jorge, 37, who died in July 2012.

Her family were able to raise the £55,000 needed to pay her bail and four weeks ago the authorities on the Caribbean island freed her without confiscating her passport.

Nicole was kept safely in a house by a Dominican family while it was arranged for her to fly home.

A photo of Nicole taken on the day she was released from prison shows how the ordeal has taken its toll on the former travel rep, who has suffered serious health problems during her time in jail.

Her family have campaigned tirelessly for her release and yesterday was the day they had been waiting for as she arrived back on British soil.

Nicole’s parents Jeannette and Mike Clements flew out to accompany Nicole home, where her children Leah, 18, and Luke, 17, were waiting when she arrived in the early hours of yesterday.

Nicole remains on bail, but after arriving home she and her family believe her ordeal is over.

Jeannette, 62, said: “We scraped the bail money together from wherever we could. Nothing mattered as much as getting Nicole home. When we had the £55,000 we sent it over to our lawyer.

“We waited for news and then finally heard that Nicole was free.

“She was taken to a house in the Dominican Republic while we organised her a flight out of there. She just had to give an address.”

Jeannette said: “We got her through the door after midnight on Sunday and drank champagne together and cried tears of relief.

“I could hardly take it in, I still can’t get my head around it.”

Jeannette said they didn’t tell anyone the news until they stepped off the plane.

She said: “When we stepped out of Heathrow that was when I had the sigh of relief.

“I think when we got there and my friend picked us up and I thought ‘wow, we’re on the way back to the house’.

“I didn’t let anybody know until we got off the plane. It still didn’t hit home.

“I’m still expecting the phone call from her at the prison at 4pm or 8pm, as she did every day.”

The family spent the day together yesterday at their home in Rumney, where Nicole was able to meet her 10-month-old grandson Antonio for the first time.

Jeannette said: “Every time we pass each other in the house we hug each other or kiss each other. She’s had quite a few tears, her emotions are all over the place.

“I really think she’s going to need counselling.”

She added: “All I was concerned about was her health, because she was very poorly even when we were travelling. She said to me ‘Mum I thought I was going to die.’

“Nicole is trying to feel like she’s back home but I am very concerned about her health and we’re going to get her to the doctors.”

She said their focus now is getting Nicole well again.

Her mother said: “Two weeks ago she was curled up in a ball, crying to me that she thought she was going to die.

“Now she is home we can get her the medical attention she has been so desperate for.

“I can’t tell you what it means to me that she is back where she belongs.

“We are all walking around dazed, it feels like a miracle after the journey we’ve had.”

Sadly, Nicole’s grandmother Audrey was not around to see the moment. Audrey’s dying wish was to see Nicole at her bedside, but she died in December while Nicole was still in prison. Jeannette said: “I would have loved my mum to be here. My mum lived for this day.”

Nicole first went to the Dominican Republic on holiday and later took a holiday rep job with Thomas Cook, where she met Jorge. The couple married in 2007 and Jeannette said they were very much in love.

But in July 2012, Nicole was accused of deliberately running over her husband in her SUV as he rode beside her on a motorbike.

Police arrived on the scene and told Nicole they would take her to hospital, but they took her to a prison where she stayed for nearly two years.

Since then, she and her family have endured the wait of several adjourned court hearings. Her parents claimed they also received death threats.

Nicole, who has always maintained that her husband’s death was a tragic accident, was initially warned she could face up to 30 years in jail.

She appeared in court for a two-and-a-half hour trial in February where the charge was reduced to voluntary manslaughter and she was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Cardiff South and Penarth MP Stephen Doughty raised concerns at the time of the length of the trial and Jeannette yesterday thanked him and his office for their help.

Mr Doughty said: “My main concern at all stages has been the fairness and conduct of the judicial process in the Dominican Republic, Nicole’s health, and her treatment in prison.

“I have had serious concerns at all stages about the conduct of the judicial process in the Dominican Republic and whether Nicole would receive a fair trial.”

He said: “In the end the family have been able to pay bail and remove Nicole from the Dominican Republic without restriction and it is now for them to assess her legal situation with their lawyers. Most importantly, though, Nicole is now out of prison, able to access the health care she clearly needs and which has not been provided at many stages in prison in the Dominican Republic.”

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: “We are aware that a British National has been released from prison in the Dominican Republic pending a further appeal. We continue to provide consular assistance.”

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